Split State Senate Delegations

Critical Analysis

1. How many states currently have a split senate delegation?

2. What story does the map tell about states with split Senate delegations?

3. Why do you think the number of split delegations is so low?

4. Originally, Article I, section 3, of the U.S. Constitution stated that, "The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each state, chosen by the legislature thereof for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote." This was changed in 1913 by the 17th Amendment. How do we currently pick U.S. Senators?

5. Why did we change to direct election of U.S. Senators?

6. The number of split Senate delegations has ratcheted downward since peaking at 27 in 1979-80. There were just nine split Senate delegations in the recently concluded 116th Congress, which tied the prior record low. Why do you think that the number of split delegations is decreasing?

7. A student who we will call Philip claimed that the fact that only six delegations are split means that the country is more united than ever. Make a counter-claim to Philip’s pathetic argument.

8. Even though a state like California is very Democratic, of California’s 53 member U.S. House delegation (which includes the Speaker of the House and the House Minority leader) 11 members are Republicans. In other words, almost all House delegations are split. Although any state could have a split Senate delegation, what states cannot have a split House delegation?

9. In the current Congress, all 22 states with two Democratic senators went for Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the November election, and all 22 states with two Republican senators went for GOP incumbent Donald Trump. How did the split delegation states vote for president?

10. Over recent years, several states have sent pairs of senators to Washington who were so ideologically disparate that their votes all but canceled each other out. Past examples include Minnesota’s Paul Wellstone and Rod Grams, North Carolina’s John Edwards and Jesse Helms, and California’s Alan Cranston and S.I. Hayakawa (each Democrat and Republican, respectively). A few years back, the Capitol Hill publication Roll Call took a look at some of the Senate’s “odd couples,” awarding the top spot to Wisconsin’s Ron Johnson, R, and Tammy Baldwin, D. Who is the Senate’s oddest couple today (remember, there are only 6 states to chose from)?

Learning Extension

Read this riveting, raunchy, and occasionally explicit Pew Research analysis of state senate delegations. (WARNING: May not be suitable for teens.)

Action Extension

Research how often the two members of your state’s U.S. Senate delegation vote together on legislation. Share your research in class.

Visual Extension*